Front Row

BBC

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

  • 42 minutes 35 seconds
    Review: The Bride! Maggie Gyllenhaal's film about the bride of Frankenstein

    Writer Rebecca Stott and Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin join Tom to discuss The Bride! Maggie Gyllenhaal's film about the bride of Frankenstein, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale.

    They also talk about the novel Bad Fiction by Rebecca Sarah Ley which is based around a creative writing course and relationships with the lauded course leader.

    There’s going to be a new BBC TV documentary about reading and they want your stories about the book that changed your life. Maybe a book bought you love, transformed health or happiness or even saved a life? If you would like to tell your story please email: [email protected]

    Artistic director Seán Doran talks about a new Northern Literary Lands initiative, celebrating the literary legacy of eleven border counties in Ireland. With the new Samuel Beckett Biennale, several festivals and nine cross-border literary travel paths, the area is applying to become the world's first UNESCO Region of Literature.

    The German film Sound of Falling is the final item being reviewed. The award-winning film explores a home over a century which is haunted by family secrets.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

    5 March 2026, 8:25 pm
  • 42 minutes 28 seconds
    Will Self on The Quantity Theory of Morality

    Will Self dives in to his latest satirical novel in which he looks at the alienation of modern life, and takes a stab at middle-class life. He discusses how his experiences with cancer have impacted his writing, and his outlook.

    75 years after the death of composer and performer Ivor Novello, we celebrate his life and works - from musicals to the talkies. Kirsty is joined by Novello specialist Ian McMillan-Davidson and conductor and composer Sir John Rutter.

    In 1976 a firebomb at Malone House in South Belfast destroyed almost the entire fashion and textile collection of the Ulster Museum. 50 years on, a new exhibition Ashes to Fashion showcases the story of its rebirth.

    Tonight, the winner of the Nero Gold Prize is crowned. Head judge and writer Nick Hornby shares what made the 2025 winner so special.

    Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Caitlin Sneddon

    4 March 2026, 8:27 pm
  • 42 minutes 15 seconds
    Author Julia Quinn on Bridgerton

    Author Julia Quinn published The Duke and I, the first novel in her eight-part Bridgerton series, in 2000. Twenty years later the adaption of her books would become a television phenomenon. Julia reflects on the place of class, race, and sex in her Regency romances and why getting a call from one of television's most successful producers was such a transformative moment for the genre that she loves.

    With the government proposing an overnight visitor levy or ‘tourism tax’ in England, Nick talks to travel journalist Simon Calder and CEO of London’s Southbank Centre, Elaine Bedell. They discuss the potential impact of the levy and whether some of the revenue should be ringfenced for arts and culture.

    There's a new Rembrandt in town. Art historian Bendor Grosvenor on the newly attributed painting that's about to go on show at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

    Beneath the Sheets: Anatomy, Art and Power is a new exhibition at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds. Curator Jack Gann discusses how attempts to understand the human body fused art and science.

    Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

    3 March 2026, 8:39 pm
  • 42 minutes 10 seconds
    Pixar at 40

    Media journalist Al Horner discusses the latest twist in Warner Bros sale.

    Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter on the inner workings of the animation giant as it marks its 40th anniversary this year.

    100 years after his birth, and with a special BFI season underway, we assess the work of the Polish director Andrzej Wajda, with fellow director Agnieszka Holland and film writer Ian Christie.

    British painter Rose Wylie's Royal academy retrospective opened last week. Samira sat down to speak with her at the RA in the shadow of one of her enormous canvasses.

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed

    2 March 2026, 8:09 pm
  • 42 minutes 17 seconds
    Review: Tracey Emin: A Second Life at Tate Modern

    Art critic Louisa Buck and writer Chris Power giving their verdicts on Tracey Emin: a second life at Tate Modern. This landmark exhibition spans 40 years and includes famous works such as My Bed to recent paintings and bronzes which are on display for the first time.

    They will also be reviewing the Oscar nominated film Sirât - which tells the story of a father travelling the Moroccan desert with ravers in the hope of finding his missing daughter.

    And they discuss Bird Grove, a play which tells the story of Mary Ann Evans before she became George Eliot.

    Plus Tom interviews Linda Tolhurst, the National Theatre’s Stage Door Keeper who is receiving the Industry Recognition Award at the Olivier Awards this year.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

    26 February 2026, 8:30 pm
  • 42 minutes 37 seconds
    Arthur Sze, the poet laureate of the United States, and award-winning director Felipe Bustos Sierra

    Poet Laureate of the United States, Arthur Sze is one of the most admired poets of the past five decades influencing the work of Poet Laureates and Nobel Physicists. His work focusses on imagery from nature and he will talk about his latest collection and his first UK publication, Into The Hush.

    The Glasgow Film Festival opening film, Everybody to Kenmure Street tells the story of the community response to a dawn raid by Immigration Officers on Kenmure Street, a diverse community in the southside of Glasgow in May 2021. Director Felipe Bustos Sierra joins Kirsty.

    Artist Ilana Halperin on her exhibition 'What Is Us and What is Earth' that blends sculpture, drawing and photography to explore the connection between human life and geological time. Curator Susanna Beaumont will also join the discussison to talk about the exhibition, 'Earth Matters' that marks 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, the Edinburgh born geologist whose radical ideas gave us the first sense of deep time and changed how we see the Earth

    25 February 2026, 8:09 pm
  • 42 minutes 16 seconds
    Ukraine Unbroken - New Plays Responding to the War

    The full scale invasion of Ukraine began four years ago today. Ukraine Unbroken is an evening of five new plays written in response to the war. David Edgar talks about his, Five Day War, which imagines the puppet government waiting to move in when Kviv falls, and the other dramas. Between the plays Ukrainian musician Mariia Petrovska sings and plays the bandura. She talks about her involvement and the bandura, the national instrument that was once banned. And Mariia plays and sings live in the studio.

    As Oscar-winning British cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins looks back at his career through his visual memoir Reflections: On Cinematography, he talks to Samira about his practical and inventive approach to working on many iconic films such as 1984, O Brother Where Art Thou, 1917, tackling sci fi on Bladerunner 2049 and Bond with Skyfall.

    The government has announced the introduction of new legisation to introduce monitoring by Ofcom of streaming services. Front Row explores the implcations of this.

    And we consider the novels selected for the International Booker Prize longlist, announced today with writer and head judge Natasha Brown. The books in contention are: The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from Spanish by Robin Myers The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from Dutch by David McKay The Deserters by Mathias Énard, translated from French by Charlotte Mandell Small Comfort by Ia Genberg, translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre, translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May

    24 February 2026, 8:32 pm
  • 42 minutes 15 seconds
    Neve Campbell on being Hollywood's Scream Queen, and BAFTAs lowdown

    Fifty years on from the death of painter LS Lowry, the BBC has made a documentary featuring recently discovered recordings made in the last years of his life. Recorded by Lowry fan Angela Barratt over a period of four years, the tapes have been lip-synced for the documentary, with Ian McKellen playing Lowry and Annabel Smith as Barratt. Art historian Verity Babbs and curator of the Lowry Collection, Claire Stewart, join Samira Ahmed to discuss the painter's life and legacy.

    Actress Neve Campbell shot to fame playing the lead role of Sidney Prescott in Scream in 1996. She went on to appear in five of the six sequels - and now returns for another battle with the Ghostface killer in Scream 7.

    Francis Spufford is the award-winning author of Golden Hill and Light Perpetual. His new novel, Nonesuch, tells the story of a young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz.

    And Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw reacts to last night's BAFTAs, as well as the winner of the Berlin Film Festival's coveted Golden Bear Award.

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Bano

    23 February 2026, 8:15 pm
  • 42 minutes 7 seconds
    Review: Cynthia Erivo in Dracula, Charli XCX mockumentary, The Secret Agent

    Poet, playwright and curator Inua Ellams and film critic Hanna Flint join Tom Sutcliffe for this week's reviews.

    Riding high after the huge success of the Wicked films, actor Cynthia Erivo returns to the London stage for a one-woman production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, in which she plays all the parts.

    Last summer was dubbed 'brat summer' by the press, with the word 'brat' entering the dictionary as an adjective - all in response to the pop album Brat by singer Charli XCX. In a new mockumentary, The Moment, Charli considers how to follow up on Brat, and how to deal with fame.

    And Kleber Mendonça Filho's new film The Secret Agent follows a man caught in the turmoil of the Brazilian military dictatorship. With four Oscar nominations and two BAFTA nominations, it's widely tipped to be one of the big winners in this year's awards season.

    Plus authors Hallie Rubenhold and Jason Sanford tell Tom about a new and troubling marketing scam aimed at authors which promise good reviews and then resort to threats when authors do not respond.

    Producer: Tim Bano

    19 February 2026, 8:34 pm
  • 42 minutes 15 seconds
    Amanda Seyfried and Mona Fastvold on their film The Testament of Ann Lee

    Director Mona Fastvold and actor Amanda Seyfried discuss their film The Testament of Ann Lee, a musical history about the life of the founder of The Shakers, a mystic who moved from Manchester to the United States in the 18th century and founded a religious community, and who advocated for celibacy, communal living, and gender equality.

    As a new production of George Bernard Shaw's St Joan opens, director Stewart Laing and theologian and art historian Ayla Lepine discuss how the 15th-century French religious martyr who led France to victory in the Hundred Years War against England but who was burned at the stake after being found guilty of heresy has influenced culture, and why her story is particularly relevant today.

    In her new book Fashioning the Crown, journalist and author Justine Picardie explores how the women of The Windsors have used clothing to communicate messaging to the public. She speaks about her research in the Royal Archives and about how symbolic royal dress has been over the past century.

    Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

    18 February 2026, 8:09 pm
  • 42 minutes 25 seconds
    Playwright Jim Cartwright on his groundbreaking debut play Road

    In 1986 Jim Cartwright's debut play, Road, was the theatrical sensation of the year and its reputation has only grown in the decades that have followed. As a new production to mark its 40th anniversary opens at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Jim Cartwright joins Front Row to reflect on why the play has had such an enduring impact.

    "How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun.” So exclaimed Van Gogh in a letter. Now an exhibition, 'Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh's Colour', at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam explores why the artist and his contemporaries loved yellow so much. Art historians Martin Bailey and Kirsty Sinclair Dootson discuss the significance of yellow in art, and the long history of the colour.

    American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir on her new Oscar-nominated documentary, The Perfect Neighbour, which looks at a 2023 shooting incident in Florida when white female, Susan Louise Lorincz, fatally shot her black female neighbour, Ajike Owens.

    Dr Jasmine Allen, Director of the Stained Glass Museum, on the "nation's favourite" stained glass window at Carlisle Cathedral.

    Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

    17 February 2026, 9:19 pm
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